Category Archives: Outside Korea and Japan

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Howdy folks! Long time no blog, huh?! Well, autumn went by way too quickly, and winter seems to be zipping past as well (not that I’m complaining: I’m super sick of dreary grey skies, dry skin, sinus infections, and bundling up under layers and layers, anyway.) We didn’t do much in the way of Christmas celebrations this year, we couldn’t even clear any space in our minuscule apartment to put up our mini-Christmas tree. Boo. Anyhow, moaning aside, we did take a most excellent adventure across the Pacific to visit a city I’ve been dreaming of venturing to ever since I was a hair metal-obsessed teen…

The final installment of my Hong Kong 2015 adventure series isn’t in Hong Kong at all, but in Macau! It was a speedy one-hour ferry ride from Hong Kong, but it felt like we’d been transported to an entirely different place, ages away from Hong Kong!

I don’t really know what expectations I had about Hong Kong, but I suppose I was expecting it to be all towering skyscrapers and silver, shiny cityscapes. Of course, this was one element of Hong Kong’s landscape, but I was most impressed by the trashy side streets, secluded shrines, and tiny, cluttered shops. There was such a juxtaposition of cultures, times, and traditions; it felt so unreal! A shop stuffed with birds’ nests could be just around the corner from an organic, vegan grocery store; British pubs sat across from dim sum restaurants; ancient temples stood in the shadows of glittering apartment buildings. Not to mention the bamboo scaffolding that covered at least one building on every single block. Hong Kong is a city that seems perpetually under construction, ever expanding.

When I booked our holiday to Hong Kong, I was honestly most excited about the shopping aspect of our trip, and that aspect did not disappoint! There were Topshops (yes, plural!), Marks and Spencers (so many!), and funky Hong Kong-born brands like 2% HK (where I managed to grab some pieces from their Miffy collaboration ♥ON SALE♥) and Ki.La.Ra (which sells Sanrio-licensed clothes for fully-grown adults; I’m not sure if it’s a Hong Kong brand, but I’ve never seen it or heard of it anywhere else.) Anyway, I wasn’t expecting to do much historical or natural sight-seeing, but I’m so happy we did, cuz these places were gorgeous!